'Cowboy Mike' Braae convicted of rape, murder
Thursday, May 22, 2008 12:04 PM PDT
By The Associated Press
Printable version
E-mail this articleOLYMPIA — Michael John Braae, known as Cowboy Mike, has been convicted of raping and killing a Lacey woman in 2001.
A Thurston County Superior Court jury began deliberations Wednesday and returned the verdict Thursday morning.
The case stems from the killing of 44-year-old Lori Jones in July 2001.
Deputy Prosecutor Jon Tunheim says the 48-year-old former country western singer-songwriter's DNA was found on her body, and his fingerprint was on a window blind at her apartment.
Brae denies having anything to do with her death, and defense lawyer Larry Jefferson has suggested that police investigators were sloppy.
Braae is serving time for assault in Idaho, where he was chased and caught by police not long after Jones was slain.
His trial on an attempted murder charge in Yakima in 2006 ended in a mistrial.
Past Month's Most Commented Stories